Debris From Debby Continues to Plague Live Oak Streets

LIVE OAK - Weeks after Tropical Storm Debby hit, piles of trash and debris still fill the streets of Live Oak.

TV 20 talked with residents who say they have no choice but to dump debris along the street.

"One day is too long for this kind of debris to be on the streets," said resident Lon Bernard Lawson. "You can come to certain neighborhoods at this point in time and still see that there is a lot of clean up left to be done."

Lawson lives on Anderson Davis Street and says trash and debris has been piling up for three weeks.

"People have been going around here and having to smell this stuff for a while now," he said.

Other neighborhoods are dealing with the same problem.

Live Oak Mayor Garth Nobles said he knows this is an immediate issue.

"We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 cubic yards of debris," Nobles said. "People have torn up sheet rock, installation, appliances and it's just all over our streets."

He expalined that the city didn't have the money at first.

"We've had to postpone removal because of the funding," Nobles said. "We waited on a Declaration of Disaster."

It would've cost the city over $100,000 if they had not waited for state funding.

Tuesday wass the first day big trucks picked up garbage piles, but it may be some time before everything is off city streets.

"There is no way to know how quickly we will be able to move," Nobles said. "Like I said we have three trucks and we anticipate three more today," said Nobles.

He is working on long term recovery efforts with several state agencies.

Residents like Lawson say while they do want the piles removed, the debris is more than just trash to him.

"There is a lot of memory in these piles, heartbreak, heartache," said Lawson.